Were are we now? (3 Viewers)

[Captain Dart]

Well the window ended in rather disappointing fashion.

At the end of the season we unloaded Paterson and Tavares, not unexpected.

Then we signed Rushworth, KKH and Brau, so far looking good.

Quite a few U21 or the younger fringe players out on loan, Yearn, Moore, Obikwu, Bassette and Raphael. It is unlikely Bassette will return as the loaning club has an option to buy, he counts as a failed gamble. I guess in many respects these are necessary moves for player development but I am not so sure Raphael's loan is the best plan.

Binks and Sheaf have gone for decent money, no one is really complaining about them going.

Collins also departed on loan, probably never to return. He was often performing badly and there were few complaints about his move.

Finally Woolfenden is a last minute signing after much speculation about wingers, forwards and other central defenders.

The real issue is that we now have a much lighter squad though it is packed full of experience.

Hey remember there is another window in 4 months when I suspect a winger will join.

Hopefully until then we don't pick up too many injuries in one area.

Have I missed anything?

PS I missed Aidan Dausch's loan to FGR and the end of Burroughs and Howley's contracts.

 

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[GaryJones]

Well summed up

 

[Domo]

Have I missed anything?

yeah, bought a stadium.

 

[Ccfcisparks]

yeah, bought a stadium.

not transfer related

 

[Sky Blue Harry H]

Have I missed anything?

An H in the title thread. Pedants rule ok.

 

[Domo]

not transfer related

12th man

 

[Perennial Lurker]

@Nick can all these inane thread be merged please

 

[Ccfcisparks]

So our best lineup with all the players that will be fit before January is

Rushworth
MVE Thomas Kitching JDS
Grimes
Torp
Rudoni
Sakamoto Wright EMC

The bench:

Wilson
Lati
Woolfenden
Brau
Bidwell
KKH
Allen
Eccles
Simms
BTA

Does that Bench scream promotion quality

 

[Macca]

About the same as last season in terms of aspirations I think

 

[Perennial Lurker]

So our best lineup with all the players that will be fit before January is

Rushworth
MVE Thomas Kitching JDS
Grimes
Torp
Rudoni
Sakamoto Wright EMC

The bench:

Wilson
Lati
Woolfenden
Brau
Bidwell
KKH
Allen
Eccles
Simms
BTA

Does that Bench scream promotion quality

Obviously missing Dovin but aside from that its more than adequate

 

[Ccfcisparks]

About the same as last season in terms of aspirations I think

I actually like the Woolfenden signing. There was just a lot of clever business we could have done.

Lots of dead wood that people say "can do a job" could have been cleverly flipped into players with more promise.

I thought we were on our way when we got rid of Binks, but the window has just spluttered since then.

 

[Ccfcisparks]

Obviously missing Dovin but aside from that its more than adequate

If you are 1-0 down that bench does not scream "lets change the game"

 

[Perennial Lurker]

I actually like the Woolfenden signing. There was just a lot of clever business we could have done.

Lots of dead wood that people say "can do a job" could have been cleverly flipped into players with more promise.

I thought we were on our way when we got rid of Binks, but the window has just spluttered since then.

Would've liked to have seen one of either Allen ,Bidwell or Lati moved on but did we have any takers ?

 

[Ccfcisparks]

Would've liked to have seen one of either Allen ,Bidwell or Lati moved on but did we have any takers ?

I think we more than likely priced teams out the move.

 

[Skybluecol]

So our best lineup with all the players that will be fit before January is

Rushworth
MVE Thomas Kitching JDS
Grimes
Torp
Rudoni
Sakamoto Wright EMC

The bench:

Wilson
Lati
Woolfenden
Brau
Bidwell
KKH
Allen
Eccles
Simms
BTA

Does that Bench scream promotion quality

Decent summary and the Raphael loan was desperately needed....he's hardly played any football for well over a year and it'd be very likely the same this season too. Drop down to L1, hopefully he'll have a fantastic year and we either get him back more experienced and ready to be a bigger part of the squad or we sell and make a profit

 

[Ccfcisparks]

Decent summary and the Raphael loan was desperately needed....he's hardly played any football for well over a year and it'd be very likely the same this season too. Drop down to L1, hopefully he'll have a fantastic year and we either get him back more experienced and ready to be a bigger part of the squad or we sell and make a profit

Really think we needed an exciting tricky player to bring off the bench.

If we are playing and struggling to break down a low block 1-0 down, nobody on that bench is a difference maker

 

[Perennial Lurker]

If you are 1-0 down that bench does not scream "lets change the game"

With the strengthening of the back line i don't think we will be 1-0 down too often once we eliminate the stupid fouls/mistakes

Just an question for you , who do you see as the 2-3 outstanding teams this season who are nailed on to be pushing for the autos?

 

[shmmeee]

As long as we don’t get any injuries before February we’ll be fine.

 

[Ccfcisparks]

With the strengthening of the back line i don't think we will be 1-0 down too often once we eliminate the stupid fouls/mistakes

Just an question for you , who do you see as the 2-3 outstanding teams this season who are nailed on to be pushing for the autos?

Boro have a really nice balanced squad, the Albion have strenghtened well and I dont doubt Leicester and Ipswich will be up there after their spluttering start.

Blues I know people on here don't rate them but I do think they will be fighting in the top 7/8 most the year

 

[Perennial Lurker]

Really think we needed an exciting tricky player to bring off the bench.

If we are playing and struggling to break down a low block 1-0 down, nobody on that bench is a difference maker

If you think that Rapha was that player then I would disagree, he showed glimpses against a league 1 reserve side but would you trust him to do it consistently?

 

[Skybluecol]

Really think we needed an exciting tricky player to bring off the bench.

If we are playing and struggling to break down a low block 1-0 down, nobody on that bench is a difference maker

Agree we need an additional 3 or 4 players to give us a proper quality squad that can fight for autos.
I'm hoping we have luck with injuries as the squad is good enough to be up there and fighting for promotion imo
It's also going to take time for the teams around us to gel their new players...that's what we said about ourselves in windows gone by

 

[Perennial Lurker]

Boro have a really nice balanced squad, the Albion have strenghtened well and I dont doubt Leicester and Ipswich will be up there after their spluttering start.

Blues I know people on here don't rate them but I do think they will be fighting in the top 7/8 most the year

Agreed . Blues worry me as if they are anywhere near then they will throw money at promotion in January . I genuinely think this year is wide open

 

[Ccfcisparks]

If you think that Rapha was that player then I would disagree, he showed glimpses against a league 1 reserve side but would you trust him to do it consistently?

I didn't necessarily, I was happy for Rapha to go out on loan granted we got someone in.

 

[Ccfcisparks]

Agreed . Blues worry me as if they are anywhere near then they will throw money at promotion in January . I genuinely think this year is wide open

It is, which is why this window has been slightly underwhelming for me. It would be nice to know if there was any forwards coming through the academy who could be a wild card off the bench

 

[stupot07]

So our best lineup with all the players that will be fit before January is

Rushworth
MVE Thomas Kitching JDS
Grimes
Torp
Rudoni
Sakamoto Wright EMC

The bench:

Wilson
Lati
Woolfenden
Brau
Bidwell
KKH
Allen
Eccles
Simms
BTA

Does that Bench scream promotion quality

He doesn't trust half of those subs.

 

[Ccfcisparks]

He doesn't trust half of those subs.

Exactly. He never wants to bring half of them on.

Its not his team, and I really thought this window we would give him license to craft what he wants.

 

[Perennial Lurker]

It is, which is why this window has been slightly underwhelming for me. It would be nice to know if there was any forwards coming through the academy who could be a wild card off the bench

Was talking to my work colleague today , Leicester season ticket holder, and he blames Birmingham and Wrexham for inflating the fees this summer.
And he would be happy for Leicester to consolidate this season

 

[skybluecam]

I think midfield is the biggest miss with Sheaf going.

Eccles is now probably 4th choice - he does the basics well, won't change a game though and doesn't have any of the individual quality/specificity that the starting 3 have.

1 injury hurts us, 2 injuries in there would be on the verge of catastrophic.

 

[Perennial Lurker]

He doesn't trust half of those subs.

Which half ? Only Simms seems on the periphery

 

[Ccfcisparks]

I think midfield is the biggest miss with Sheaf going.

Eccles is now probably 4th choice - he does the basics well, won't change a game though and doesn't have any of the individual quality/specificity that the starting 3 have.

1 injury hurts us, 2 injuries in there would be on the verge of catastrophic.

Lampard didn't really appear to favour him too much when he was fit at the end of the year. Wasn't there talk that Eccles wanted to move on for first team football?

 

[skybluecam]

Lampard didn't really appear to favour him too much when he was fit at the end of the year. Wasn't there talk that Eccles wanted to move on for first team football?

Eccles or Allen, same difference really, each a huge step down from the starters.

Wouldn't be surprised, I think there were rumours of clubs willing to pay 3-4m?

 

[Perennial Lurker]

Lampard didn't really appear to favour him too much when he was fit at the end of the year. Wasn't there talk that Eccles wanted to move on for first team football?

Think that was nonsense to be honest , Viveash going to Boro and Robins to Stoke made people assume he would be off to one of them .
After DaSilva I would say Eccles was the biggest improver under Lampard last season. He seemed to play more as an 8 when Torp was out and seemed to thrive .
Eccles remains very undervalued among our fans base for me

 

[alexccfc99]

So our best lineup with all the players that will be fit before January is

Rushworth
MVE Thomas Kitching JDS
Grimes
Torp
Rudoni
Sakamoto Wright EMC

The bench:

Wilson
Lati
Woolfenden
Brau
Bidwell
KKH
Allen
Eccles
Simms
BTA

Does that Bench scream promotion quality

As frustrating as Simms is and for as much flack as he deservedly gets at times

As a back up striker he is a better option than most Championship sides have sitting on their bench

 

[Perennial Lurker]

Eccles or Allen, same difference really, each a huge step down from the starters.

Wouldn't be surprised, I think there were rumours of clubs willing to pay 3-4m?

I disagree, I think Lampard rates Eccles . Time will tell

 

[alexccfc99]

The Top 6 should be the minimum expectation with this squad and unless we have the unluckiest injury crisis ever in football then I would be hard pressed to accept anything less

Onwards, see where the squad is in Jan -
thankfully even with a few injuries I do think we can wing it till then and re-assess from there… We were utter guff until Feb last season and look where we ended up! So if we can be in, or even around the Top 6 in Jan then we are in a strong position